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vacation

I wanted to create some excitement for our children in the weeks leading up to our big Disney Vacation. A friend of mine had made a Disney countdown for her children. Hers was awesome and had some great educational aspects to it, but I wanted mine to be more geared towards the cruise instead of a general Disney theme.

Here is what I came up with.

This chalkboard paddle countdown was very easy to make, and maybe even a little educational (they got to practice writing their numbers). I picked up all of the supplies very cheaply at Michael’s. Supplies were: Wooden paddle, chalkboard paint, sparkly alphabet stickers and Pirate Mickey scrapbook stickers, paint brush . I also used a piece of paper, pencil, and scissors to make the template for the painted mickey head. Oh and don’t forget the chalk!

1. Draw a Mickey head on a piece of paper that will fit on your paddle. Cut it out and trace it onto the bottom of your paddle with a pencil.

2. Carefully paint the outside of your Mickey head with the chalkboard paint and then fill the outline. Wait until it fully dries before adding a second, and then third, coat of paint.

3. Decorate as you wish with stickers. Stickers that are meant for scrapbooking will be a lot more durable than regular stickers.

And that’s it! Now your children will have fun doing their countdown each day, and getting more and more excited about their trip! On the morning that we left I put the countdown at the bottom of the stairs and had drawn a big zero on the countdown. When the children came down the stairs they were thrilled to see that there were no more days left and it was time to go!